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Tenna Birdsong Tales
The Tenna Birdsong Tales were the stories a blackbird told the young Jalis, Tenna when she rescued it from a net. She remembered the stories word for word and it became her work to tell them to others. These stories were passed down through the generations. The Jalis mostly kept the stories to themselves and it was not until Josef, the Del palace librarian, wrote them down did they become accessible. Josef researched the tales, and came to the conclusion that many of them were not just simple fairy tales of made-up people and places but they actually told the story of the land of Deltora in ancient times. He compiled some of the stories, working out their order and published them in the book ''Tales of Deltora''. ''Tenna Birdsong Tales'' ''The Girl with the Golden Hair'' A tale about a plain-faced girl by the name of Alyss, with beautiful golden hair.One day she was taken by a golden dragon who took her to their nest. A youth by the name of Rosnan followed after her even though she spurned his affections since he was as plain-faced as her. Rosnan demanded that the dragon release Alyss but the dragon wanted her golden hair to line its nest. Alyssa cut her hair off in order to save Rosnan and gave it to the dragon. Seeing how ugly she was without her hair, she raced off deep into the dragons nest, into the caverns beneath Deltora. Rosnan chased after her, but she refused to stop. They ran underneath the Topaz territory, the Ruby, the Opal, the Emerald and then finally stopped before they reached the Shadowlands. There they settled down with the Keron people on the island Keras and lived happily ever after. ''The Land of Dragons'' The tale explains the origins of Deltora, back when it was a cruel, hard place called the Land of Dragons. Where the dragons ruled the skies and sea monsters ruled the oceans surrounding them. Where each tribe was divided and warred often over the land’s scarce resources. The tale introduces the twin island of the Land of Dragons. It lay just out of reach of the desperate and hopeless people, who created tales of a beautiful land where they created tales of its imagined beauty and perfection. They called it The Twin and often people from the Land of Dragons would try to reach it but its never known if any really made it. It goes on to introduce some of the beasts in the sea and ones that came onto the land - Sea Serpent, Sea Wolf, Mirada, Strangler, Vulture Fish, Bird Bane, Dead-eye, Kobb, Kreel, Stinger, Bubbler, Blood Creeper, and Death Spinner (Glus). ''Fire and Water'' This tale tells the story of the merging of the Land of Dragons with it’s twin and the emergence of the seven talismans. The tribe of the west, black-haired and wise in magic scattered fortune-telling stones and found that the stones of fire, water, death and marriage fell together and wondered what it meant. The dragons sensed that a change was coming but merely watched and waited. The fearsome sea monsters burrowing deep into the seabeds, weakened the rocky ground of the sea, not knowing what fiery doom lay behind it. One day the dragons took flight and blocked out the sun. The earth quaked beneath the people’s feet, the sea boiled, and the land changed. The people thought that the world was ending but it merely changed. Once it was over, it revealed that the north shores were now rocky mountains, forced up as the land between The Twin and the Land of Dragon’s collided and merged sealed by melted rock. Eight days after the event, the skies cleared and the people found a wondrous gem in each of their territories, their own talisman. The land blossomed and the people were able to leave their land, for many of the sea monsters died in the clash of fire and water. The people of the Land of Dragons tried to explore the new land but the mountains separating the lands were full of the deadly creatures that once lived in the sea and their attempts at sailing around were blocked by powerful magic. And so they forgot about The Twin and guarded their own talismans. ''The Four Sisters'' A tale that tells of a beautiful island where four sisters lived, whose voices brought peace and beauty to the land. Their names were Flora, Viva, Aqua, and Terra. A sorcerer came to the island searching for a place to call his own. He heard the sister’s singing and despised it since he hated all things beautiful. He imprisoned the sisters each on a separate corner of the island, but they still sung to one another, bathing the island in peace. Enraged the sorcerer went to each corner and struck them down one by one. First Flora, second Viva and then third Aqua. For a time Terra sung alone but then finally, her voice was silenced too. The sorcerer realised his mistake too late, for within the centre of the island, hidden deep in the earth was a vile monster. It was kept sleeping while the sisters sang but once their voices ceased, it awoke and destroyed the island. The sorcerer fled in fear and sailed away in search of new lands. ''The Tale of the Sorcerer'' Looking for a land to call his own, the Sorcerer finds an island with a powerful magic. He encounters an emerald dragon and decides this is the place he will rule. The tale tells of Verlain, the Shadow Lord, and his coming to the Land of Dragons, which would later be known as Deltora. It deal with what happened after the Shadow Lord had fled the island of the Four Sisters. ''The Dragon's Egg'' The Sorcerer, thinking he has found a dragon egg, realises that the egg is not from a dragon at all, but really an Ak-Baba ''The Tale of the Pirran Pipe'' A magical flute known as the Pirran Pipe protects the land of Pirra, that lies to the north of Deltora beyond the Barrier Mountains. The Piper, the chief of the Pirrans and the one responsible for playing the flute, passes away, and three new candidates rise. They play the fluter on turn, but every time they get equal amount of votes. A mysterious hooded man suddenly appears and lures all three groups into separating the flute into three pieces. Without the flute's music to protect the land, the hooded man, who is the Shadow Lord in disguise, conquers Pirra and transforms it into the Shadowlands. The tale tell of the magic land that once existed beyond the Barrier Mountains to the north of Deltora. From it flowed the beautiful, calming sound of a magic flute, known as the Pirran Pipe, which protected the land from evil. When the Piper, the only one allowed to play the Pipe, passed away, three talented flute players presented themselves as a possible replacement. However, when the Pirran people had to vote for their favorite, the three of them all received an equal number of votes. They tried several times, but the result were the same nonetheless. The Pirran people were divided into three groups according to their favorite favorite player. After the thirteenth time of the same result, the groups became furious and turned on one another, using their magic to harm. It was when that a stranger, who had been with each of the groups, urging them to be strong and stand by their opinion. He had a solution. The Pipers were to divide the Pipe into three individual parts, and each of the three would have one of them. They agreed to do so, and they went their separate ways. The stranger, who naturally had bad intentions, was actually the Shadow Lord, and without the Pipe's magic to protect Pirra, he took the land for himself and easily turned it into what became known as the Shadowlands. ''The Seven Goblins'' A tale about seven ugly creatures who leave their underground world in order to share their story and bring their people into the light. They met a man called Ben Os-Mine, who upon seeing them, attacked them with a stone. The stone hit and killed the smallest of the goblins. The man ran off and they buried their companion. They continued on until one of the goblins lagging behind was captured and eaten by creatures hidden beneath a rock. The remaining members heard the creatures talking about a cunning puzzle box and fled, horrified. They reached a farm house and the family within were terrified at their appearance. The mother tossed a boiling pot of soup at the five and while four of them got out of the way in time, one was not so lucky. It burned him and he fell upon his bone knife, killing himself. The four left, heard shouts and the heavy pounding of feet towards the farmhouse and they fled, leaving their fallen friend where he lay. They decided to head toward the magic city they had heard the townsfolk chatter about, believing that they would listen to their tale. So they continued on, stealing food from the sleeping houses. The hungriest goblin found a tray of raisins on a pantry floor. She ate her fill and tipped the remaining ones into her bag, not knowing that they were poisoned, left out to kill rats. She lived long enough to warn them of the danger and died in their arms. ''Opal the Dreamer'' Opal lived in the Plains. She dreamed that Deltora would one day be invaded by a powerful Socerer and a man with 'fire and steel', will defeat him. ''The Tale of the Three Knights'' Three Jalis knights, presumably brothers, travel to the Forests of Silence in search for the fabled Lilies of Life, which is said to give eternal life to the one who drinks its nectar. It concerns three brothers, all Jalis Knights, who travels to the center of Mid Wood of the Forests of Silence, a place called "The Dark", to seek the fabled Lilies of Life. The brothers at last find their prize, only to begin fighting over it until the two youngest perish at the hands of their older brother. The names of the slain knights were Greddock and Gudden and the brother who murdered them was Gorl. Little Enna The tale tells about a little girl named Enna who finds a smooth stone on the shore, which turns out to be an egg. The egg hatches a "sweet sea worm." When Enna shows her mother the worm, she commands her daughter to take it back to the sea. Enna is saddened and runs away, declaring that if the worm belongs to the sea she does as well. As she is running a wave of water causes her to fall into a cavity in the earth. No one knows what happened to Enna, but many believe that the worm grew into the dreaded monster known as "the Glus" or "Deathspinner." Trivia * Jasmine reads the tale of The Girl with the Golden Hair and uses it to find a way into the Shadowlands, prompting Lief and Barda to follow after her. * The Shadow Lord was inspired by his experiences in The Four Sisters, and created twisted versions of them which brought death and despair to Deltora. * The Seven Goblins were Plumes from the underground island. The precious carved bit of wood that one of the goblins held was the Plume's piece of the Pirran Pipe. Glock, who was a descendant of the Jalis who accidentally killed the last goblin, ended up with it and passed it onto Jasmine when he died. * The creatures hidden beneath the rock mentioned in The Seven Goblins are the Granous. Lief, Jasmine and Barda encounter them during their quest to defeat the Sister of the East. They talk about one of their visitors who left behind a puzzle box. References Category:Books Category:History